Chapter 43 – The Family Tree (Part I)

Weaver

We were back home. My leathery wings weighed heavily on my shoulders, not a physical burden but a vexing reminder that I was still a god. I might as well make the most out of it.

"I will distract Mother and Father while you two lovebirds decide what you want to do," Markus said before he pulled me aside and meaningfully told me, "I suggest you look for Thanatos."

I sighed as I considered that option. Was it truly the best one?

I looked at Selene and saw her gazing, mouth agape, at the world around her. We were in the junction of our sphere where my conceptions met Markus' and Francis' creations. On one side, there was an impression of Narcissus staring at his reflection on the rippling royal blue water, ignoring the mermaids that were vying for his attention. On the other side, there were twenty pixies molesting one of my shadows.

A thought occurred to me. I held Selene's hand and told her, "Let me show you the difference between your imagination and mine. Your art is glorious. Mine is grotesque. I am the weaver of nightmares after all."

Selene smiled at me and nodded, eager to explore the dream realm again. It was different this time. It felt better because I was not compelled to hide anything from her and she fully grasped that everything was real.

Multi-colored pebbles formed into a giant heart at our feet and I flushed in embarrassment.

"I didn't realize you could be this cheesy," Selene remarked. "I thought you only worked in black and sometimes, very, very dark grey."

"I got the idea from Francis," I grumbled.

"I like it," Selene told me as she crouched and picked one rainbow-colored pebble.

I waved my hand and the pebbles formed into a swirling wall that parted in the middle. I held Selene's hand more tightly as we stepped though the gap and found ourselves in one of my favored sites.

It was a graveyard. It was freezing and the wind screamed at our ears. Selene trembled and I was gratified to see that it was not out of fear. The girl even had a smirk on her face as she looked around her, but she was rubbing her arms because of the cold. I pulled her closer to me and kept her warmly tucked in one wing.

I fancied the sound of bones crunching beneath our feet. The walls of the necropolis were decorated with hundreds of skulls. The eye sockets blazed with red coals, illuminating our path. Cracked tombstones and markers had slimy worms and a thousand maggots crawling out of the crevices. There were misshapen effigies with missing eyes and ears, severed noses and lacerated mouths. The figures creaked as they moved. A statue of a headless woman ambled around, digging the graves, searching for her head.

A gruesome wraith with decayed flesh hanging pitifully on his blackened bones dared approach us and presented Selene a wilted white lily.

"Thank you," Selene said, blushing as she accepted the flower.

I glowered at the wraith and it retreated, crumbling and losing more muscle tissue with every step. I was annoyed and jealous. Until I realized that these were all my designs.

I laughed to myself. I was such an idiot when it came to Selene.

"You have wicked taste, Icelus," Selene told me as she stepped out from under my wing and faced me.

"Does none of this terrify you?" I asked.

"Grotesque and quixotic," Selene answered, her eyes never leaving mine. "Your world is beautiful."

I leaned forward and inhaled her scent. Even in this putrid churchyard, her saccharine scent rose to the surface. Her sweetness in my nightmares. For eternity.

Did it bear consideration?

Should I call Thanatos and trade the pearl I'd given Selene for her immortality?

Selene tilted her head and her lips were a mere inch from mine. A whisper of a kiss. An infinity with Selene this close to me. I shivered in excitement. It would be my dream come true.

But I could not be greedy. I needed to know what her heart truly desired.

"Come with me," I said, my voice gruff in altruistic effort.

I brought Selene to my tree—my maple tree that appeared in my most private nightmares. Its leaves of jagged shards of mirror revealed nothing but the truth. It exposed reality like it had not so long ago when it reflected my hideous quadruped form instead of my winged figure.

"I have seen this tree before," Selene said as she reached up to trace a glass leaf.

I cleared my throat as I collected my thoughts, uncertain of what I was about to ask her.

"Selene, would you be willing to stay here? I will complete my penance as a mortal then we shall be together forever after."

Right after I heard myself, I wanted to take back my words. It was risky and foolish to leave Selene here when I knew I couldn't be with her all the time. There were too many risks. What if she got lost in one my tunnels? Immortality would not save her from pain. And then there was my mother. I shuddered at the thought of what Nyx could do to Selene simply to make me suffer.

And in my self-interest, I overlooked what mattered most.

I saw the images on the leaves. Selene's mother and sisters. Selene knew that if she said yes, I could not guarantee that she could keep in touch with her family. She might receive the same offer I was given—she would not even be a memory but a figment of her family's nightly dreams.

Selene bit her lip. I was worse than Nyx for dumping this on Selene. I could not let her choose between me and her family. But I could make the same choice I'd picked again and again.

I choose Selene.

I held both of Selene's hands, drawing her attention away from the mirror tree. "I'm sorry, Selene. I cannot ask you to leave your family for me. That was extremely selfish of me."

"Thank you," she said softly, frowning because she knew there was still a decision to make.

"Selene, I know you do not agree, but if I choose to be a god, I could not be with you. And you... you would forget you even knew me."

"But you will live," Selene said emphatically. I felt her pain, but I also knew she'd insist on my extended existence.

"I could not bear to live apart from you. I'd rather we have that brief moment," I told her firmly, my mind irrevocably made up.

"Icelus, please," Selene pleaded. "Do not make this sacrifice. I can't be selfish."

"But I can," I rejoined. I stared at a narrow fissure between two pillars bordering the skull walls. Then raising my voice, I called out, "Mother, come forth. I have made my decision."

From the space between the columns, Nyx appeared, holding a scroll in one hand and a skeletal stylus in the other. Her face showed no emotion as she glided toward me and handed me the contract. She kept her eyes on mine as I unrolled the parchment. I took the stylus, located my name at the bottom of the paper, and without missing a beat, signed and sealed my fate.

Nyx's eyes glimmered as she snatched the document from me.

Instantaneously, a searing pain shot down my back as my wings were ripped from me by an invisible hand. Before they fell to the ground, my severed wings burned in scorching heat, dissolving the pair into ashes. I had to push Selene away from me for her not to be singed.

A wave of weakness washed over me and I collapsed to my knees.

"Ice," Selene cried as she caught me.

I was finally a mortal. Weak and frail. And my clock had begun ticking. I felt it in my bones.

There was no time for self-pity. It was time revel. I could now be with Selene. As finite as our time together was. I wanted to laugh. Once I had enough strength to.

But someone beat me to it. A cackle. Then uproarious laughter. Loud and derisive. I raised my head and was horrified to see my mother gone and in her place, the reason behind our sentence. I was looking at the mad eyes of a hunter, the bloody tusks of the white elephant on his shoulders.

And with the veil of deception lifted, I realized it was not just the hunter from our past.

"Noah?" Selene uttered, as bewildered as I was.